prompt
Americanadjective
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done, performed, delivered, etc., at once or without delay.
I emailed them asking about my package and they gave a prompt reply.
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ready in action; quick to act as occasion demands.
They were trained to be prompt and competent for any emergency.
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quick or alert.
You're too prompt to take offense.
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She's never prompt in arriving for work, yet she's always the first to leave at the end of the day.
verb (used with object)
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prompts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prompted,
past participle, past
-
prompting
present participle
-
to move or induce to action.
What prompted you to say that?
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to occasion or incite; inspire.
What prompted his resignation?
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to assist (a person speaking) by suggesting something to be said.
It's obvious that this witness has been prompted into giving false testimony.
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Theater. to supply (an actor, singer, etc.) from offstage with a missed cue or forgotten line.
I focused on prompting our Cyrano, who had become strangely disoriented.
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Computers. (of a computer system) to send a message or symbol to (a user) requesting information or instructions, usually by displaying the message or symbol on a screen.
Once the home page has loaded, the computer will prompt you to log in to your account.
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Computers, Digital Technology. to request particular output from (a machine learning algorithm) by means of instructions, questions, examples, context, or other input.
verb (used without object)
-
prompts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
prompted,
past participle, past
-
prompting
present participle
noun
-
prompts
plural
-
the act of prompting.
-
something serving to suggest or remind.
They send an email once a month, which is just the prompt I need to pay my bill on time.
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Commerce.
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a limit of time given for payment for merchandise purchased, the limit being stated on a note of reminder prompt note.
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the contract setting the time limit.
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Computers. a message or symbol from a computer system to a user, generally appearing on a display screen, requesting more information or indicating that the system is ready for user instructions.
When the prompt appears, provide your access code.
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Computers, Digital Technology. a sequence of inputs, often containing instructions, questions, examples, or context, used to request particular output from a machine learning algorithm.
idioms
adjective
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performed or executed without delay
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quick or ready to act or respond
adverb
verb
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(tr) to urge (someone to do something)
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to remind (an actor, singer, etc) of lines forgotten during a performance
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(tr) to refresh the memory of
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(tr) to give rise to by suggestion
his affairs will prompt discussion
noun
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commerce
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the time limit allowed for payment of the debt incurred by purchasing goods or services on credit
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the contract specifying this time limit
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Also called: prompt note. a memorandum sent to a purchaser to remind him of the time limit and the sum due
-
-
the act of prompting
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anything that serves to remind
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an aid to the operator of a computer in the form of a question or statement that appears on the screen showing that the equipment is ready to proceed and indicating the options available
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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promptsimple
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promptssimple
-
have promptedperfect
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has promptedperfect
-
am promptingprogressive
-
are promptingprogressive
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is promptingprogressive
-
have been promptingperfect progressive
-
has been promptingperfect progressive
Past
-
promptedsimple
-
had promptedperfect
-
was promptingprogressive
-
were promptingprogressive
-
had been promptingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prompt
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English prompte “ready, eager” (adjective), prompten (verb), both ultimately from Latin promptus “manifest, at hand, ready, quick, prepared,” adjective use of past participle of prōmere “to bring forth, deliver, set forth,” from prō- pro- 1 + (e)mere “to buy, obtain, take”
Explanation
If you're prompt, you're on time. Go ahead and be prompt to class. Also, to prompt is to inspire or make happen. Getting in trouble for being late should prompt you to get a better alarm clock. The adjective prompt can mean "as scheduled," or simply "quick." When you prompt someone, you motivate them in some way: you might offer a reminder, assistance, or even inspiration to do something. For example, honking your car horn prompts your friend to get moving, and speaking up in defense of your classmate might prompt a bully to change his ways. If a director prompts an actor who's forgotten his lines, she reminds him what comes next.
Vocabulary lists containing prompt
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 1
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 20–25
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Knowing what it was about did prompt a chat with our son about the manosphere and those sort of toxic influencers it references," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
After seizing the Professor Molchanov, they feared that keeping dozens of Russians stranded in Barentsburg could prompt retaliation from Moscow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
The website does not feature digital advertisements, nor does it prompt readers to subscribe, but there is also no disclosure of who is funding it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026
Surely, though, it must be possible to punish a company for being reckless or negligent in its use of A.I., even if no one gave an agent a prompt like “Do some crimes.”
From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2026
Seven minutes after the bell, I finally slap my composition notebook down on my desk and read the prompt on the whiteboard.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
There are tools where you can ask, with the right prompts: “People who are passionate about F1, what are they talking about? What are the latest conversations on Reddit?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
The complaint said the prompts indicate Alfozan was “interested in building, customizing, installing, audio recording, testing, obfuscating, and remote accessing, among other things, a surreptitious audio listening and recording device.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
"I have heard stories of some writers using AI prompts to do a first draft which I find shocking because I think... What are you paid for otherwise? What are you there to do?"
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The new gene prompts the cells to produce CARs only when it reaches this intended location.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
“Say goodbye to your sister, Emma,” Jennifer prompts.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
It produced for one prompter a schematic of a jet engine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
What I had was a prompter, which I’m so grateful they gave me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
Those accounts accused Harris of making use of the prompter to answer questions from the audience, asked in English and Spanish, causing Univision producers to set the record straight late Thursday night.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2024
I'd like to see how she performs more off the cuff and without an ability to read from the prompter.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024
The Captain determined anyhow to act as prompter.
From Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life by Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers
The Federal Reserve Board's first credit-easing step, in May 1953, "was the promptest response to an economic decline ever taken by a central bank in any country."
From Time Magazine Archive
The day Yastrzemski steps out, museum curators will mark him for promptest delivery.
From Time Magazine Archive
Needed: "Additional and improved bombers, airborne alert, more missiles of existing types, speeded production of Polaris submarines, the promptest possible dispersal and hardening of bases, and a program for civil defense."
From Time Magazine Archive
I called for Hays, but he, the promptest of men, and his splendid regiment, could not be found.
From Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War by Richard Taylor
He was conscientiously convinced that, all things considered, it was the promptest and most feasible process of re-establishing civil government in the insurrectionary States.
From Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2 From Lincoln to Garfield, with a Review of the Events Which Led to the Political Revolution of 1860 by James Gillespie Blaine
A misstep by French soccer star Kylian Mbappé has cost him sponsorships in China and prompted damage control from the brands still backing him, Joshua Robinson reports for The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
The pair's love of reading prompted them to start an Instagram account dedicated to books, and they're spending their two-year "bookiversary" in an apt place.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
The buildup comes less than a year after Ecuadorans voted against allowing foreign military bases, and has prompted questions from even within the highest ranks of Ecuador's armed forces.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
The AI-generated voice carries a live conversation with the caller, and doesn’t clarify it’s not a real person unless prompted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
The fair prompted President Harrison to designate October 12 a national holiday, Columbus Day, which today serves to anchor a few thousand parades and a three-day weekend.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
But Temple and his collaborators began questioning whether the underlying mathematics could remain stable, prompting them to investigate other possible explanations for the observed acceleration.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026
This is reflected in his campaign’s perhaps oversimplified yard signs, the majority of which carry only two words “Sununu, Senator,” prompting plenty of residents to wonder if he’s deliberately skipping listing his first name.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026
In 1994, Barrie was diagnosed with rectal cancer, prompting her to raise awareness about the disease.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
However, the deadline has passed without the senator surrendering the passports, prompting speculation he may have left the country.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
How like Hermione Lola was, to remain guiltless while others destroyed themselves at her prompting.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
